Home souls: Love for a rescue pet grows both ways

Maybe it's a cold, wet nose finding the back of our legs as you shuffle toward the kitchen.

Or it's that patch of warm fur that rises up under our palm as our arm hangs off the end of the sofa.

Pets always seem to know when it is time to remind us they are there, ready to listen or sit without talking.

A ball to fetch or a laser to chase, it doesn't take much for their joy to become ours.

But not everyone can or is willing to treat our furry friends like the prize they are to those of us who know their true worth.

Some wind up abandoned. Others are abused. And far too many are the butt our species' cruelest inclinations, maimed or mutilated and callously left for dead.

Thank God for the rescuers.

Last week, the Wayne County Animal Adoption and Education Center opened its doors and waived its fees so that 85 pets could find what those in the business of rescuing animals lovingly call forever homes.

Now nearly a hundred little souls have a warm place to sleep, a regular feeding and play schedule and plenty of affection to know they are making a difference in the lives of their humans.

There is no telling how many kids now have companions they can run, play and create memories with.

Or how many singles who put in long hours at work now have someone waiting for them when their keys jingle in the lock.  

When our days have been long or a relationship has soured, when our kids have left the nest or our life partners have passed on, we who have pets know there is a pal by our side, relying on us as we are on them.

And a look in their eye from time to time might remind us, that while we were the ones who filled out the forms, it was truly our pets who rescued us in this world.

Published in Editorials on August 24, 2017 10:58 PM